Diablo II: Lords of Justice
Act I: Rogue Encampment
Part A: Meetings and Greetings
The portal closed behind him, cutting off the last view of clean, well-lit marble hallways. The mystical light quickly faded, leaving behind the drab, run-down buildings and people of the Rogue Encampment, and Heero surveyed them with cold detachment as those nearest turned their heads to take in the new arrival.
Or at least, the newest arrival, Heero allowed, his gaze sweeping over the others in the camp. As his master predicted, the same rumors which had led him here had also drawn others -- other so-called champions of light. The others were fairly easy to pick out -- not only were their weapons and equipment vastly different from the Rogues, but they were also almost the only men in the camp.
There was a tall young man dressed in green and brown, leathers and furs, with dark brown hair falling oddly to cover his face. Ravens fluttered about his head, and the absently familiar way the young man reached up to touch the bird told Heero that this was one of the Druids. He was talking with a blond Sorceress, easily identified by her long staff and the light clothing she wore, more suited to a much warmer climate.
Standing a little further off, near a dying fire, an older man dressed in merchants' clothes was talking earnestly to... Heero had to look twice to assure himself that what he had seen was true; a slender youth dressed in black and pale gray, with a braid of light brown hair that fell past his thighs. Heero frowned as he regarded this last. He didn't know what the young man was supposed to be, but it was obvious he was no fighter.
Heero turned, and nearly jumped out of his skin as he saw a dark-haired young man in black standing behind him, arms folded over his chest as he studied Heero critically. Metal blades glittered on the backs of his hands, identifying him as one of the widely-feared Assassins. Heero had studied some of them; they had been an elite order of martial artists created by the Horadric Mages to enforce order among their own. Though they preferred to work in the shadows, the Assassins were still warriors to be respected, and after a moment Heero extended a polite greeting to him.
"My name is Heero Yuy, follower of Zakarum, Paladin of the order of Westmarch," he identified himself. "And you are...?"
"Chang Wufei. Nothing so special," the assassin replied dryly. "I assume that you, too, are here to investigate the fall of the Monastery."
Heero nodded. "Strange rumors have reached the ears of my orders' Masters -- of a Dark Wanderer who came though this place shortly before the Monastery was overrun. I came to see if the survivors might have some information about this Wanderer."
"You came late," another voice drawled, and Heero glanced over to see the long-haired man saunter up. "He was here, all right, with this other fellow -- scrawny little guy, so they say. They stayed only for one night, and two days after they left, the demons appeared. That's all they know."
"Left?" Heero looked from Wufei to the newcomer. "Where were they heading?"
"East," Wufei said softly. "And now, no-one can follow them, because of the demoness who holds the Monastery."
"Warriv over there," the young man waved back towards the merchant he'd been speaking with earlier, "was heading that way before the passage was closed. He's promised to take us East, if we can clear out the Monastery."
"Who exactly is we?" Heero asked, rather coldly. He worked alone.
The longhaired boy waved over his shoulder, and the other two young men Heero had picked out stopped their conversation and headed over. "We is Quatre, Trowa and I," he replied, pointing to each of the young men in turn. With a start, Heero realized that the blond, Quatre, was actually a boy! It didn't make sense -- all of the Sorceresses were female, and males were expressly forbidden from learning magic. But then, that might explain what the boy was doing here.
"The three of us, and Wufei too, I guess, have already talked with Akara -- you probably should, too, if you intend to do anything about the monsters around here," Quatre said cheerfully.
"Of course I do," Heero said coldly. "I will eliminate all of the Dark Magic here in the west."
For no apparent reason, Quatre broke out into giggles, and Trowa touched his shoulder in a restraining gesture while trying to fight a smile of his own. The longhaired boy's grin widened. "You must be a Paladin," he said, extending his hand to shake. "You should talk to Charsi, the blacksmith. She's got visions of fighting evil mages and killing monsters for the glory of adventure. You two would probably get along great."
Heero took his hand, and couldn't help but notice, rather inanely, the contrast between the boy's light skin and his own tanned fingers. He hadn't noticed how pale his skin was; it seemed to suit him very well, contrasting with his eyes... He wrenched his attention firmly back where it should have been. "Yes, I'm a Paladin," he answered. "My name is Heero Yuy."
"Duo Maxwell." His grin took on a feral quality. "Or you could call me the God of Death. I'm a Necromancer."
For a moment, Heero froze, before snatching his hand back as though it had been burned. "Necromancer?" he spat the word. "What business does one of your kind have here?"
Duo rolled his eyes. "Well, gee. Here I thought that saving the world from being overrun by demons might be a good way to kill some time... no pun intended," he added.
Heero snarled under his breath, rubbing the palm of his hand against his leg as he turned away. He couldn't believe he'd actually been admiring a Dark Mage's eyes! "Who's in charge of the surviving Rogues?" he asked of Wufei, who had been watching the whole by-play with some amusement.
"Kashya," Wufei replied. "But she refuses to send any more of her warriors out of the camp to die. If we are to fight, we must all band together for strength."
"Are you mad?" Heero stared at the assassin for a moment. "He's a Necromancer!"
"And I'm an Assassin," Wufei replied dryly. "What's your point?"
"We can't trust him!" Heero hissed. "He might turn on us at any time!"
"Hello, standing right here?" Duo waved an arm. "Geez! I thought that old saying about shoving a piece of coal up a Paladin's butt and getting back a diamond was an exaggeration!"
Quatre laughed, and even Wufei chuckled, as Heero glared at the braided boy. The Druid, Trowa, spoke up for the first time, defusing some of the tension.
"Akara spoke of a cave nearby to the encampment, where the demons breed and fortify themselves," he said quietly. "If that cave were destroyed, then the Rogues could go out of the camp safely again. She has promised us her wisdom if we can accomplish this task."
Heero turned his glare on the tall Druid. "I can accomplish this by myself," he began, but Quatre cut him off, stepping in front of Trowa.
"Maybe you could, and I'm sure that all of us are capable warriors, or we would not be here. But if we are all planning to oppose the Darkness falling over this land, then it makes the most sense for us to join our forces together, no matter our superficial differences!" the blond Sorcerer said heatedly.
"It is the best tactic," Wufei said, nodding in agreement. "Together, five weapons are much stronger than one."
Unexpectedly, Duo laughed. "Five? We've got way more than five!" He made a strange motion with his right hand, and said something in a language that made the hair on the back of Heero's neck stand up. A ripple passed through the ground, and two skeletons rose up, shedding dirt and grass blades as they rose. Each of them held a sharp-looking ax in their bony hands, and they clustered about Duo with the mindless devotion of magically summoned creatures. Duo smiled, and touched them with the same sort of familiarity that Trowa had touched his ravens.
Heero's blood seethed, and he longed to destroy the undead creatures, and their summoner. But Wufei was right about joining their forces. Instead, he said out loud, "I'm not wasting any more time here. I am going to this Den of Evil. If you want to fight, then come along."
He turned on his heel and headed towards the barricaded gates. The others exchanged glances, then followed; only Wufei was close enough to hear Heero add, under his breath, "and may the Gods preserve the righteous."
It began to rain.
To Be Continued... *insert demonic laughter here*
Back to the Introduction
On to Act Ib